Box score

Austin, Texas  Do your blood pressure a favor. Enjoy the way Kansas finishes games and trust that in time your favorite basketball doctor, 10th-year coach Bill Self, will figure out a way to remove all the hideous warts you have to see leading up to the pleasant part.

The formula of winning ugly and finishing pretty doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon, so you might as well get used to it.

In too-typical fashion, Kansas had to overcome a particularly long shooting slump Saturday in order to remain unbeaten in Big 12 play and extend its winning streak to 15 with a 64-59 victory against Texas.

For the fourth time in five games — Temple and Iowa State at home, Texas Tech and the Longhorns on the road — KU had trouble scoring and needed a strong finish for the victory.

Against Tech the strong finish lasted the entire second half. It didn’t kick in until much later in the Erwin Center.

Trailing by 11 points with less than 15 minutes left, by 10 points with less than 12 minutes remaining and by six with less than six left, Kansas transformed itself back into the experienced basketball team it is and finished on an 8-2 run in the final 2:18.

Somehow, no Texas lead felt safe because the young Longhorns have been blowing leads all season and Kansas knows how to win ugly and finish pretty. It’s a dangerous means of winning, but an entertaining one, warts and all.

Shaky point-guard play — at one point, Elijah Johnson and Naadir Tharpe were a combined 0-for-11 with one turnover and four assists — played the biggest part in KU’s sluggish offense.

Things turned when Self went with Tharpe, Johnson, Ben McLemore, Travis Releford and Jeff Withey for the final several minutes.

Until then, Kansas in general and Johnson in particular, couldn’t get shots to drop. Was it the defense or the shooting?

“Me personally or the team?” asked Johnson, who made one of 11 shots.

Both.

“I don’t want to talk about me personally,” Johnson said. “It’s irrelevant, but I give them respect because they play some defense, they play some good defense. I honestly say that’s the best defense we’ve gone against all year. And they never really let up. And their bench players came in and gave them some good minutes. I respect them for it. They made it tough for us.”

Johnson did get around to talking about his poor shooting day. He attributed having so many scoring opportunities close to the hoop to the Texas defense paying so much attention to center Jeff Withey.

It sounded unbelievable to him too. The strong team finish made the ugly statistic one that doesn’t matter in the standings.

“I think we dealt with the pressure well,” Johnson said of the late stages. “They had us rattled for one or two possessions maybe, but I think we took care of that by just calming our team down and just doing what we do. We’ve been in this situation too many times.”

Even when Texas’ lead grew to 11 points after a 12-0 run that lasted 2:20 early in the second half, it never felt as if the home team was going to win this one. It certainly didn’t ever feel that way to Johnson.

“No, I never think that until zeroes are on the clock, and even then I still won’t believe it,” Johnson said. “I feel like you can’t have that mindset and try to be a competitor.”

If Kansas can figure out how to compete as well for 40 minutes as it does at the end, the close calls will become less common, but for now, winning ugly beats losing pretty.

As a Badger fan on the side, when that schedule was made up MSU/Wisconsin was a top 25 matchup. A lot more sets tuned in between those two states as well making it an economic decision as well. I agree though, KU KSU should be given network treatment.

Extremely large reptile killer, drgnslayr, I use to waste a lot of time on the
phone, (I'm not good with computers) PTI, ESPN, D Patrick, Dan not Danica in an attempt to draw attention to the "coast" bias. I referred to the midwest as the "no coast". There will be no boast of the "no coast". 43 phone calls later and not one response I have accepted our place in the media, the boiler room, broom closet, dumpster, back burner, I started to say red headed step child, due to recent posts of certain red head I'll abstain. Sorry, I've lost my head, I can't see very well. It looks all brown in here. monk

The college basketball TV schedule is set by the networks before the season starts unlike a couple of weeks ahead like in college football. Also ESPN has done B1G and SEC games on Tuesdays more a long time now that's not surprising at all. What is surprising is a Big 12 conference game on a Tuesday night because the Big 12 typically plays Monday, Wednesday, and Saturdays. The KU-KSU game in AFH in 2010the when both were in the top 5 was also a Big 12 network game instead if being an ESPN game.

Yes, I have it in St.Louis and it's bizarre to see all these NY Yankee commercials and broadcast schedule...as a Cardinal Fan, it's a high price to pay to see the Hawks...but totally worth it.

Please remember Stan Musial in your prayers [not that he actually needs them]. What a great ball player and even a greater man. He was such a great human being that he made you feel better about yourself just because you cheered for him!!!

I thought Keegan had a great question for Self after the game about Kansas going with a small line up late in the game. Clark Kellogg also noted how KU was spreading out and dribble driving against the best match-up to suddenly create an alternative style of offense for Texas to adjust to late. When Kansas was down in the final minutes to Iowa State this year at home the switch to the small unit helped KU rally back for that win too.

That small line up came to mind as I watched most of the Kansas State game today right after our win. The television coverage of K-State's surge at the end of the first half did a good job showing how McGruder works screens in their motion offense. McGruder is moving so much better in that offense now than he did earlier in the season, and Spadling did a nice job sinking jump-shots while making good reads in the motion too. It will be interesting to see when (or if) Kansas switches to that smaller line up this Tuesday in order to disrupt K-States rhythm offensively and to change up our offense on the other side of the ball.

Listening to Bill Self’s comments after the game he was talking about how they were switching 4 with Jeff sticking with his which can help defend the rim and KU up 3 with seconds to go. KU can also switch 5 if KU goes small and plays Young as the big though obviously you lose perhaps the best defender in the country with that unit. During the CBS coaches interviews while they were celebrating 75 years of the NCAA tournament, Self picked out a late 80’s Illinois team as his favorite Final Four team, which did not win a championship, because they had a bunch of 6’5” guys who could switch on all ball screens.

Being able to pressure the ball as KU does so well will help in defending K-State though the way KU switches screens throughout the game, particularly against McGruder, will be fun to watch. Self might again save that switch to a small line up for a late game adjustment just to throw a big wrinkle at K-State, who might know it will come, though it will still be a physical style and flow adjustment the Wildcat players on the floor might need to handle in the moment. KU is proving they are comfortable in suddenly playing small right when the pressure of game point is at stake.

Opinion: My wife is going to have to order a defibulator to have here at the house if this winning ugly is going to be an ongoing habit. Wow! I can't take this all year. This is why I can't watch the NCAA tournament games live. My family and friends give me crap because I record the games and go for a walk in the park. We win and I go home and enjoy the replay. We lose. I have yard work to do. This may become my practice for all games. I'm already nervous about Tuesday night. What was Keegs big headline two weeks ago? Conference play starts with other teams fighting for 2nd place...Well, we are playing our "rivals" for 1st place at the Octagon of Poop and the loser is a game back.

mikehawk, I think we have shared our....condition, dysfunction, ism, maybe
its a rash. Whatever it is I have lost my ability to record games and as a
result I have chosen to watch the games live, come what may. I have made
a commitment to my wife & dog not to scream at the television, players, refs, basically not act like a toddler. Remember, you're not alone. monk

If anyone gets a 12 step meeting started for the above bloggers, and others like us, please post the time and day of the meeting. I'll drive up and attend.
"Hi, my name is mikehawk, and I am addicted to all things KU basketball. I am stuck on Step 1 and I really feel like I'm going to leave this meeting today and use (blog, watch, observe replays, etc) I've turned my family into addicts, also. I really need a sponsor. Anyone here far along enough in recovery to be one for me?"

Maybe you need to talk to my college aged daughter who last week said, "why do you care, it's just a bunch of college kids playing a game" After realizing I couldn't give her a timeout for such an inane comment, I sat down and watched a bunch of college kids playing a game!

I don't understand! This happens every year. I guess you have to write about something. Conference play is tough. In '08 we lost 3 close games in a very short stretch. The good thing is we've been able to pull these games out. I know it's easy to look at Texas and their 8-8 record and think we'll just roll them. They have 12 freshmen and sophomores. They are the team that will likely have the best chance to stop our streak next year. Just chill out. We are going to crush the bad teams and play close with the good teams just like every team does this time of year.

KSU runs an effective Big Ten type motion offense. They remind me of Wisconsin or an old IU. Southwell and Gibson are excellent screeners. Henriquez is the only player over 6'-7" on their roster. He is foul prone and rarely plays more than10-12 minutes a game. So, they basically play four guards and a forward (Gibson 6-7). Spradling tends to float between the two baseline corners on the 3 point line. He does not seem to be driving the ball to the hole like he did last year. So, he is not getting to line. He is an excellent FT shooter. So, the key will be Releford fighting over the screens to stay on McGruder. I would not switch off. Releford should forget about the defense boards - just stick with McGruder. McGruder does attack the offense boards. At just 6-4, he is KSU's best rebounder -go figure! KSU fouls alot, they have had several games with more than 15 turnovers. So, despite having experience guards, they are prone to careless passing - just like Johnson and Tharpe.
KU just needs to pound the ball inside. This would be the perfect game for Ellis and Traylor to show their offensive skills.

We will do very well to win 2 of the next 3 games. I rate the KSU game as the toughest of the 3, at best a toss-up, provided we bring our A game.

Haven't posted in a while. I'm still dissapointed with the steady decline in the overall quality of NCAA BB, caused by the ever increasing early departures for the NBA. NCAA BB is a shell of what it once was in the 1960's & 1970's. I've had little interst in watching NBA games until the last couple of years. But I now find myself watching more & more NBA games, the only venue left to see high quality BB.

Impressed by EJ's comments. He gave credit to the Texas defense, took the blame for his performance and managed to stay positive through it all. Last year, Tyshawn's first half was really rough, and then the law of averages came into play. I like our chances as the season continues.

EJ is developing into a leader. He cares more about helping his teammates succeed...than his own personal stats. I wouldn't give up on him...this leadership will help him and his team perform down the stretch !!!

Am I the only one that hates it when NBA announcers call college games? I know Kevin Harlan is a KU grad but damn dude, these are kids, not million dollar athletes! Last week I heard Bill Walton say that the college shot clock is too long. Talk about trying to divert from the fact that his beloved Arizona Wildcats lost bad.

Kevin Harlan is the best in the buisness. He was great. Sound likethe only thing that will make you happy is to have Bob "WOW" Armstrong calling games. It was a pleasure to have Kevin Harlan calling the game. Save your dumb comments for your family.

If he's the best then how come when KU took a charge Harlan goes, "And KU with the foul trying to clog the lane," when the official immediately gave the charge signal. Then, like 5 seconds later, Harlan - with a sad attempt at realization - goes, "Oh they changed the call!" Come on man, he's at the game and can't even tell what's going on.

Just hope your team's not playing Michigan St. with Gus Johnson calling it. He loses all objectivity and becomes their biggest cheerleader. I found out last year at the BIG1G football championship. Yelling and screaming for MSU and dejectedly calling Wiscy's TDs.

Incorrect. This is not the NBA. The reason the shot clock is shorter is because the "people" want to see offense. I suppose you could say the same for college, but unlike everyone else in this thread, I'd rather watch a great defensive possession than an easy McLemore dunk. I'm sure Bill Self would tell you which one he would rather have. These are kids, not star athletes. Infusing more and more NBA presence into the college game is only going to deepen the one-and-done mentality. Getting them used to the NBA game earlier is going to make them think they are ready, when they're clearly not (Josh Selby, Darrell Arthur, Cole Aldrich, Drew Gooden).

Long shot clocks also reduce the number of possessions and preserves the parity that I love in college basketball. Shorter shot clocks would greatly favor the very few teams that can recruit the best athletes. Granted KU would be included in that list, but longer shot clocks put a greater emphasis on defense and coaching, which makes for a VASTLY more entertaining game in my opinion.

The possession arrow exists for the same reason, so as not to give an unfair advantage to the handful of blue blood programs that can recruit all of the tall athletic guys.

'Twas Ever Thus
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Ted's teams in the '70s seemed to always be down by 10 or more, halfway through the second half (at home). Then they would come roaring back - taking the lead with a minute or two left in the game. The pattern was so consistent, you had to wonder if it was done for dramatic effect. It kept the fans engaged. It seemed like the louder we cheered, the better the team played.
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I hope Elijah never has to shoot 1 for 11 again. We were all feeling that pain. He should set fire to the hoops in Manhattan. just like...

The officiating seemed pretty even-handed to me yesterday. We body up pretty hard on the inside too and usually don't get called on it. Sure there may have been a missed call or two on both sides -- as there usually is in every game -- but it wasn't deliberate or done with malice. Just normal human error. I thought the officials were pretty fair throughout the game.

Will the game be on ESPN full court? If so, I'm hitting the sportsbar.
Bummer I can't get ESPN3 since I have Dish Network.
Still looking for a good app or website to listen to KU games. Any Ideas? Thanks.

I've been down there for a football game before. Great crowd. The woman who organizes it is really awesome. I forget her name but she puts on a dandy KU game day. PikePeak, if you have a chance, you should go. It's off of North Powers and you won't be sorry.

All very true Boouk. But for ESPN the decision is all about making big money. ESPN could care less about viewers' wishes or needs so long as the viewing numbers are big money-makers for them. It's all business to ESPN.

At first glance it would appear KU was favored because of their disproportionate number of free throws. But then you need to know that KU was very consistent about driving the lane while TX mostly jacked up treys (and made a lot of them). That doesn't get you to the line very often.

I found it interesting that most of the column focused on missed shots and Keegan barely mentioned the turnovers. To me, the turnovers were (and are becoming) a much bigger problem. Can anyone else remember seeing a KU team turn it over 5 consecutive times and 6 times in 7 possessions? That continued a pattern of sloppy passing and carelessness with the ball that could well end up being KU's downfall this year.